Hey everyone! I know I haven't posted in a really long time, so I'll do a small recap of the last chapter.
Crystal had woken up after passing out when she'd grown wings. Because her abilities were developing quickly, Ben decided to have her start Shifting. After a couple of hours, she was able to Shift for the first - intentional - time. Only, when she Shifts, she has to wear long black high-heeled boots, which causes her to fall. Her next goal is to learn how to walk in heels...
Chapter 16
Four hours after my first Shift, I found myself laughing in triumph; I could walk – properly - in heels! Although an easy task for most girls, I for one had never had the urge to wear any. I didn’t care how fashionable they were, they were pure evil for a klutz like me.
And I have scars to prove it.
Nicolas came into the living room, an enormous smile plastered on his face, applauding. He looked as though he was mocking me. Sure, you try it, I thought to myself. Normally I would’ve told him so, but something in his gaze had me hold back the remark. Although you could never tell Nicolas was in his fifties, his eyes, right then, held centuries of knowledge.
He’d been making phone calls to different acquaintances, which, when you were a wealthy lord, was a lot. It had taken him practically all day, and so his first reaction was to drop himself, heavily, onto the ugly yellow lazy-boy.
I didn’t say anything, waiting for him to tell me why he’d been contacting so many people. When he kept silent, I decided to be patient, and moved on to something else. Mainly, the throbbing of my feet. Lifting a foot up, I tried to remove the black high-heeled boot off of it. And tried. And tried again.
Nicolas laughed soundlessly. “It won’t come off,” he stated.
“Oh and why not? My feet look too big?” I struggled even more to get the boot off, causing myself to fall on my butt. I looked up at Nicolas with a glare, daring him to laugh. And then I continued my struggle.
“No, you physically cannot. The only piece of clothing you can remove is the coat, although it is still a mystery as to why.”
“Centuries of Shifters and you still don’t know why?” I lifted one booted foot towards me and attempted to pull it off. Only, my hands slid off of the sleek leather and knocked my chin. Mumbling inappropriate words, I got back on my feet. “Fine. You tell me how then!”
“As I said, it is impossible. The clothes you wear as a Shifter are the only ones you can wear. It is as though they are glued to you.”
“What?! Are you making this up? I’ll always have to wear these?” I pointed to the long heeled boots.
He nodded. “Until you Shift again. When you’re human it does not apply, of course.”
“Okay,” I scratched my head, “and how am I supposed to do that?” I’d never actually done that before.
“Simply do the opposite of what you did to Shift in the first place. What were you thinking of?”
“I thought of...” I hesitated a little, “people I cared about getting hurt and how I couldn’t save them.” Not entirely true, but still not a lie. I was about to tell him I’d been thinking about a guy.
“Then imagine if you had succeeded in saving them; if they were fine now.”
I nodded. It made sense, in a way. Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I shut myself off from the world and envisioned...something. It wasn’t a very clear image, but it was the first thing to come to mind. Tony was running away from a... monster of some kind, and then I showed up, stabbed the monster in the heart and killed it. We were both safe and everything was okay.
Not a very creative scenario, yet it worked nonetheless; I began to Shift. The process was just as long, and that small sense of panic when the yellowish aura enveloped me was there as usual. When the bubble disappeared and I’d regained my faded jeans and pink sweater I’d put on that morning, I let out a shaky breath. “I’ll never get used to that.”
Nicolas slowly got off the lazy-boy and moved across the living room to me. He put his big hands on my shoulders and gave me a reassuring smile. “You should not worry. It will become easier with time. You will be so accustomed to it that it will not take more than a second to Shift.”
He spoke with such faith, I could do nothing but believe him. “Thanks,” I said before stepping forward to wrap my arms around him. He was surprised at first, and then hugged me back. A nice, warm hug that could make even the worst of days feel special. It was still weird to think of him as my grandfather, having known him for such a small amount of time, yet it felt...natural. He acted as though he truly cared for me, and that, just that, meant the world to me.
I could never let him go.
Reluctantly, I moved away from him and received a soft smile. “I have made all the necessary arrangements for you,” he said slowly, “I will officially be your legal guardian once the paper work is completed and you will be financially secure for many years to come. I have also been able to call for the release of your possessions. The police have enough evidence to conduct their investigation and so, with a few pushes from the right people, they have agreed to let you relocate.”
“Relocate? Where?”
“Here, of course. My initial intentions were to have you come live with me in England, however, as Anthony pointed out, it is too much for you to adapt to at the moment. So we will be moving into the mansion tomorrow. It is already planned.”
“What? But... I... Wait, we?” I paused a second. “You mean, you’re moving...with me?”
He smiled. “Of course I will. You are my granddaughter; I would not leave you to yourself.”
“What about your wife? Your kids?”
Now he chuckled. “My kids live on their own and are well past the age when they need their father. As for my wife, she has an entire crew of servants for her every need; she will not need me.”
“Won’t you miss them?”
“Indeed, but telephones work miracles nowadays, wouldn’t you say?” He winked.
“Were the guys happy when you told them I’d...we’d move in?”
“I have not told them yet.” His expression changed into an evil grin. “And I am a Master. They cannot refuse me anything, not even their household.” And by the sudden determined look on his face, he’d ensure that they would respect that law. Or pay the price.
* * *
Grabbing the closest pillow on the couch, I took my time in aiming at my target. Once I was sure I had it, I threw the pillow and watched as-
It hit CJ in the back of the head.
She yelped and turned to glare at me. “What the hell was that for?” she bellowed.
“What was that for?” I mimicked her in a girly tone. Then I moved over to her, hands on my hips. “You’re here to help me move, not to grab your butt!”
She didn’t comment, only extended her arms in front of her. When I gave her a puzzled look, she yanked me down onto the table beside her. “Just look. Really look.”
Frowning, I did as she told me. There was nothing interesting in the living room, so I looked into the kitchen. Ben was busy taking food from the cupboards and stashing it into boxes. Although most of my food was probably squashed by the way he was chucking them in, I appreciated the gesture. All four guys, Gigi and CJ had agreed to help me move. Since I didn’t have that much to begin with, I hadn’t needed any more help than that.
Jason came out of the office and made his way towards us with a box full of books leaned onto his shoulder. Abby trailed behind him, happy to have so much company in the house. I turned back to CJ. “I don’t get what-“I stopped talking as I saw Tony and Greg come back into the house, wearing nothing from the waist up, exposing lots of muscles and hard six-packs. They walked over to Ben, who motioned to a couple of boxes he’d filled. They bent down to pick them up - showing off some fine features – and started moving out the kitchen. That’s when I really paid attention to my surroundings, noting how well built all four guys were.
“Huh,” was all I could muster. When, after some time, Gigi came over to check up on us, I didn’t even bother saying anything. I pulled her down beside me, and she quickly caught on to what we were doing. All three of us sat there, watching all that nicely built testosterone moving about. Eventually the men noticed our stalking eyes and, with laughs, told us to get up and do something.
“Can’t,” I said.
“And why not?” Tony asked me.
“Doctor’s orders.” I pointed to Gigi. She wholeheartedly nodded her approval.
Everyone else laughed, and then Greg moved to get us off our “lazy asses”, as he called them.
For the rest of the day, we finished moving my belongings from my old house to the mansion. When we’d finally finished, I came back for a last check-up with CJ.
“I don’t see why you’d want to move so quickly,” CJ stated, “I mean you could have waited until they like, ordered you out. If it had been me, I’d have made a lot of parties.” She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows up and down.
“Hey, you’re not the one being haunted by ghosts.” I pointed a thumb towards the two translucent figures floating in the corner of the living room.
CJ glanced over but saw nothing since I was the only one capable of seeing them. “Guess you’re right. Good thing too, ‘cause I’d try to break their scrawny necks if I could see them. Then again, I’d be willing to do it blindly.” She eyed the corner where she thought the ghosts were and made a twisting movement with her hands.
What she didn’t know was that they’d moved to stand in front of her. “Try it” the female hissed.
I stepped between them and turned to CJ. “Give me a minute, will you?” It was more of an order than a question.
She nodded. “Sure. Holler if you need anything.” She eyed the empty air sceptically before going outside.
I turned back towards the ghosts. Surprisingly, they’d appeared some hours ago, but had done nothing. They might not have been able to touch anything material, but they could be a pain in the ass when they decided to go on a shouting rampage. Oddly enough, they’d remained quiet all day, which was unlike them, even before they’d been dead. Not that I was complaining.
“So this is it. I’m leaving now.”
“What about us?” the male asked.
“What about you?” I replied dryly.
“Until you let us go, we will remain here,” the female said.
“So?”
“Free us,” they both spat. The two red slashes that formed an x on their hearts glowed brighter than usual.
“Why? Why should I do anything for you?”
“We are your parents!” The blood that usually dripped slowly down their immaterial bodies now flowed in a great angry mass from their hearts.
“Wrong. I have no parents. I never did.” I turned my back to them, took a few steps, opened the front door and stopped. Looking over my shoulder, I spoke to them for the last time. “Enjoy rotting in here for the rest of your afterlife” I shut and locked the door, ignoring the protesting shouts echoing through the house.
And as I walked to join CJ in the driveway, I took a deep breath. This is the beginning of my new life, and the end of an old one.
Nicolas leaving his wife doesn't seem very realistic to me. I mean, yes they can talk on the phone and all that, but they've been married for conceivably quite a long time. Just to up and abandon her like that would just be odd and heartbreaking. I suggest maybe bringing her over to live with them, or - and this is a bit depressing - have her not be alive anymore. I just can't imagine a happily married couple being so far apart. Unless, they aren't happily married. *shrugs*
Keep writing!
..Which is awesome. ;D